4 Benefits Of Collard Greens

Collard greens are a large, fan-like leafy vegetable popular in many styles of American cuisine. They’re cruciferous, much like kale, broccoli, cauliflower and more.

If you’re hoping to improve your health and want to use food in the pursuit, then eating Collard Greens could definitely help.

4 Benefits Of Collard Greens

1 – They’re good for your heart: One of the main ways collards will improve your health is the way they affect your heart. Collard greens are rich in fiber, which has been implicated in improved heart health.

Collard greens are also rich in several vitamins like vitamin C and vitamin A as well as iron, all of which play a big role in heart health.

2 – They can help fight depression: As Dove med writes: “The choline in collard greens is an essential nutrient that helps with sleep, muscle movement, learning, and memory. Collard greens are also a great source of folate. Folate may help treatdepression by preventing an excess of homocysteine from forming in the body. Excess homocysteine disrupts the production of the feel-good hormones serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which regulate not only mood but alsosleep and appetite as well.”

3 – They’re loaded with anti-cancer agents: Collard greens contain several nutrients known to help fight cancer. This is actually something that’s true of many cruciferous vegetables.

This is because they contain a compound called glucosinolates, which is a sulfur-based nutrient that has been shown to help reduce the harmful effects of free radicals. An interesting note about collard greens is for them to be activated they must be chewed and ground up to fully “come alive.”

Glucosinolates also help to fight potentially harmful inflammation which is another known risk factor for cancer.+

4 – They’re great for your gut health: The health of your gut, and the microbiome (the bacteria that live there), is inextricably linked to some very important aspects of your total health. This includes brain health, immune health, and more.

Collards are guaranteed to help improve your gut health as the high amount of fiber can relieve a multiplicity of gut conditions like IBS, constipation, fecal impaction, ulcerative colitis, and more.

Research, published in Food & Function, suggests the absence of the plant enzyme myrosinase like in cooked broccoli but also found in collard greens could help protect the health of our stomach lining by preventing bacterial overgrowth and the clinging of bacteria to our stomach wall.